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What Really Happens During a Presidential Transition

24 Dec 2024

Transcription

Chapter 1: What happens during a presidential transition?

415.194 - 416.196 Caroline Reston

All right.

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416.236 - 422.888 Dan Pfeiffer

Basically, in exchange for the taxpayer funds, you follow government rules. If you don't take the taxpayer funds, you don't have to follow those rules.

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423.089 - 424.11 Caroline Reston

Work smarter, not harder.

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426.235 - 430.538 Dan Pfeiffer

I mean, if we could have announced those cabinet picks on Twitter, we probably should have.

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430.999 - 444.91 Caroline Reston

Would have been so much easier. So you're talking about how previously before even winning the election, you are already prepping, even though you feel like it's bad juju. OK, you won. What is happening the next day?

445.17 - 466.453 Dan Pfeiffer

It is hell on earth. Horrible. Horrible. Howard Wolfson, who worked for Hillary Clinton, described presidential campaigns as a pie eating contest where the prize is more pie. And that's exactly what it is. We won. We had a victory celebration late into the night. And then several of us, myself and Alyssa included, had to come to the office at like 9 a.m.

466.493 - 469.435 Dan Pfeiffer

the morning after the election to meet with our new boss, Rahm Emanuel.

469.901 - 470.962 Alyssa Mastromonaco

It was like 7.30, 8 a.m.

471.002 - 492.075 Dan Pfeiffer

Yeah, it was just, and then you're just like, you're working. For the people who were going to work on the transition, you went, which includes basically sort of the senior staff of the campaign, you went right to work on your new job. There was no break. The best night of your life to the worst. Yeah, it's truly a terrible morning. And it's just pure chaos.

Chapter 2: What roles did the Obama transition team members have?

1604.485 - 1615.578 Dan Pfeiffer

But it's like our expectations for what is acceptable conduct from Donald Trump have been so lowered because we're comparing it to Trump of 16, not the previous 44 presidents.

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1616.539 - 1642.117 Caroline Reston

This is a great time for me to ask this question that I've been dying to talk to you both about. RFK. I don't know if you guys saw this story. It was reported that there is a job application process that is asking some batshit questions. Let me give you one example. This is per The Independent. One section asked applicants to pick three or more attitudes that suit them as such.

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1642.357 - 1663.628 Caroline Reston

Quote, I require excessive admiration. Or I quote, I don't have that much interest in having a sexual experience with another person. Another was I believe in many things. Others don't like having a sixth sense, clairvoyance and telepathy. And as an adolescent, I had bizarre fantasies or preoccupations. Is this normal?

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1663.988 - 1671.874 Alyssa Mastromonaco

Are these the job applications to work for the administration? It is so wild. I had to read it many times. Something like this can't be true, but it is.

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1671.894 - 1675.698 Dan Pfeiffer

I have no recollection of what our job application was.

1676.038 - 1677.699 Alyssa Mastromonaco

No, we didn't because these are for the cabinet.

1678.62 - 1680.441 Dan Pfeiffer

Oh, these are people who are going to be in the cabinet.

1681.002 - 1687.747 Alyssa Mastromonaco

Yes, these are his applications. But I still don't think Kathleen Sebelius was digging into these kinds of thought starters.

1688.468 - 1689.529 Dan Pfeiffer

Yeah, it's bananas.

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